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Ape Academy Mini Review

Jon Wilcox

26/08/2005

TVG goes back to school with the Ape Escape monkeys in their PSP debut...

Not content with hindering Snake in a mini-game included with Metal Gear Solid 3: Solid Snake, the mischievous monkeys from Ape Escape have appeared their own title on PSP. Ape Academy, one of a raft of first party titles developed for Sony's handheld, follows the monkeys as they begin their education at the said Academy before they head off and engage in various antics.

For those expecting the game to be a port of the PlayStation2 "Ape Escape" then you're in for a surprise as Ape Academy takes the form of fifty mini-games across six 'years' of monkey education. Though not as frantic as Nintendo's Warioware franchise the game is looking for that quick, addictive entertainment that can be enjoyed across a wide cross-section of players - but can it even begin to challenge the min-game crown held by Mario's arch-nemesis?

To cut a long review short, no.

At the beginning of a new game profile players are encouraged to select the appearance of their monkey from a range of various costumes before joining their new teacher. Each of the 'years' in the game are taught by a selection of colour coded teachers including Yellow Money, Red Monkey, Blue Monkey, andâ¦well, you get the general idea. Every year is made up of nine mini-games, which are selected randomly from the index of fifty, and take the form of a 'noughts and crosses' board which the player then selects and plays; success will mean a nought is added, while failure will only result in a crossâ¦To progress and graduate from each year players have gain the minimum number of 'nought lines' as possible. As an added bonus, the Headmaster of the school (sinisterly known as Spector) hides three tokens behind every year with a bonus mini-game award if the player wins the corresponding square.

There are a few mini-games in Academy that are fun; slapping the Monkeys for incorrect spelling is always quite amusing (though not to be confused with spanking the monkey), and the 1.00 metre dash makes the player almost hold their breath every time. That said there are games that don't seem to fit the bill...why for instance would you include a quiz? or a maths quiz? Is the game sponsored by the Department of Education or something? Even though Warioware's selection of mini-games are eclectic, they still have that similarity of high-speed, quick thinking gameplayâ¦whereas some games (such as the 'Ask Darwin' quizzes) seem to stick out from the rest of the pack. Each 'year' increases the difficulty of the mini-games, but after failing a year there's little attraction to re-sitting. What accentuates this is that players cannot withdraw and begin again - you have to complete all nine mini-games to try again. In reality this means that there's plenty of times when the PSP is resetâ¦if at all.

In an attempt to extend the game's longevity several hundred monkey 'figurines' are available to collect. In order to unlock the little souvenirs players have to acquire various figurine symbols throughout the mini-games, but the fact is that the replayability of Ape Academy is quite low and ability to rotate static renders of the monkeys is hardly enough to retain the attention of many playersâ¦

Aside from what is quite a lacklustre single-player, Ape Academy's most disappointing aspect is its multiplayer modes. Far from bringing the 'excitement' of the single-player game and proliferate it across many PSPs
Sony appear to have radically stifled the potential of Ape Academy via Wi-Fi with only four mini-games available via the ad hoc mode, and only thirteen available on PSP sharing. For quick play, gamers can access each of the mini-games through a separate option from the main menu but this, like the poor multi-player mode, only reveals the lack of depth in the game.

Though bright and vivid in colour Ape Academy can hardly be accused of pushing the boundaries of the PSP's capabilities, and whilst that doesn't make it a bad game, it does add to the title's mediocrity. Aside from the calypso soundtrack, screeches other basic sound samples are all that makes up the game's audio - not that we expected the latest hip-hop tracks to be present, but like the game's visuals, it is rather uninspired.

Even at this early stage of the PSP's there seems to be a clear divide of quality amongst the titles, and whilst games such as Lumines and Ridge Racers lead the pack, Ape Academy can definitely be found languishing behind. The gameplay is painfully repetitive and uninspired, and a vast majority of the mini-games just aren't fun; they say that your schooldays are the happiest of your life - but whoever said that couldnât have been taught at the Ape Academy.